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Hello, .

Did you ever think about the importance of exposure? 
 
At some point, I began realizing it's impossible to overstate the importance of exposure as an element of composition.
 
Part of exposure's importance is the seemingly endless visual variety of compositional outcomes it provides.
 
Beyond the compositional value of exposure, exposure is what creates the photograph. 
 
In other words, a photograph wouldn't exist without exposure.
 
I think of a photograph as a recording of light. 
 
And we record that light by exposing light-sensitive material to light. 
 
When using a camera, we use aperture and shutter speed to control the amount of exposure affecting film or a digital sensor, and that's how we control tonality, among other elements of composition. 
 
It's important we understand that exposure isn't just about controlling tonality.

 We also need to fully realize the vast visual possibilities that aperture and shutter speed can create with the depth of field and how we record motion visually. 
 
The aperture visually controls the depth of field and is part of what the aperture does.

We can think of this as "apparent sharpness." 
 
Shutter speed visually controls how motion is recorded and is part of what shutter speed does.

We can think of this as an "amount of blur." 
 
And I don't describe the brightness of a picture as overexposed or underexposed.
 
The word I use to describe the brightness of a picture is tonality.
 
We control tonality by changing the aperture, shutter speed, and ISO.

As we study and practice photography, exposure isn't just a technical term because we need to expose light-sensitive material to light (make an exposure) for our photographs to exist.  
 
And remember, understanding exposure is crucial in photography, and the Introduction to Photography class covers this and more.
 
And there's more classes below.

Do you need to learn to use your camera or brush up on some skills and techniques, especially if you want to be ready to take pictures and record those holiday moments?

I've scheduled Introduction to Photography and Getting To Know Your Camera classes.

Since class sizes are limited to five participants, it's a good idea to reserve your spot as soon as possible.

If you need a different schedule, there's always Private Lessons.

Below are more ways to learn photography with me.

The Introduction to Photography class or a series of Private Lessons will help you study and practice to become a photographer who can make the best possible pictures.

By studying and practicing photography with me, you'll learn how to be a better photographer. 

More ways to study and practice with me are below.